Hickory Report
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Hickory Shagbark hickory, Carya ovata Bitternut hickory, Carya cordiformis The volume in hickory has increased steadily over the last several decades and is aging. Since 1983, the volume in large trees has more than tripled while the volume in small trees has only increased 21%. Growth rates haven’t changed significantly since 1983 but mortality has quadrupled. Hickory accounts for about 1.4% of volume and growth but only 0.7% of mortality and 0.9% of removals. The volume of bitternut hickory is expected to decrease in the next 40 years while the volume of shagbark hickory should increase substantially. Hickory is not a prominent timber species, accounting for only 0.3% of roundwood production in 2009. Although removals have increased five-fold since 1983, we harvest much less hickory compared to other species. Hickory wood has the highest density of all species in Wisconsin and therefore may be a valuable source of woody biomass. • How has the hickory resource changed? Growing stock volume and diameter class distribution • Where is hickory found in Wisconsin? Growing stock volume by region with map • What kind of sites does hickory grow on? Habitat type and site index distribution • How fast is hickory growing? Average annual net growth: trends and ratio of growth to volume • How healthy is hickory in Wisconsin? Average annual mortality: trends and ratio of mortality to volume • Does hickory have any disease or pest issues? 100 Canker Disease: biology, symptoms and impact • How much hickory do we harvest? Roundwood production by product and ratio of growth to removals • How much hickory biomass do we have? Aboveground biomass by region of the state Division of Forestry • Can we predict the future of beech? WI Dept of Natural Resources December 2019 Modelling future volumes “How has the hickory resource changed?” Growing stock volume and diameter class distribution by year The growing stock volume of hickory in 2018 was about 301 million cubic feet or 1.4% of total statewide volume (chart on right). The Growing stock volume of hickory volume of hickory has increased steadily over the past few decades, 350 55% since 1983 and 37% since 1996. 300 250 The hickory resource is maturing; the total volume in small growing 3 stock (5-12.9 inches dbh) has increased by 19% since 1983 while the 200 volume in large trees (13+ inches dbh) has more than tripled (chart 150 Million ft below left). 100 50 The number of sawtimber hickory has increased by 49% since 2004 0 while the number of saplings has decreased by 7% (chart below 1983 1996 2004 2011 2018 right). Lack of regeneration may affect long term sustainability of Growing stock volume (million cubic feet) by inventory year. both species. Source: USDA Forest Inventory and Analysis data Volume of hickory by diameter class Percentage change in tree numbers Seedling Sapling Pole Sawtimber 120 100% 100 5-8.9 50% 3 80 9-12.9 13-16.9 60 0% 17-20.9 Million ft 40 21-24.9 -50% 20 25+ 0 -100% 1983 1996 2011 2018 Bitternut hickory Shagbark hickory Total hickory Growing stock volume (million cubic feet) by diameter class (inches). Percentage change in the number of live trees by size class between 2004 and 2018. Source: USDA Forest Inventory and Analysis data. Source: USDA Forest Inventory and Analysis data 2004 and 2018. “Where is hickory found in Wisconsin?” Growing stock volume by region with map About 59% of hickory volume is shagbark hickory (Table 1). Most hickory occurs in southwest Wisconsin with only 4% in the northern part of the state. Shagbark hickory is found almost exclusively on the oak / hickory forest type whereas bitternut hickory is also an important component of the maple / beech / birch type. Table 1. Growing stock volume (million ft3) by species and region of the state. North North South South Percent Species Central Total east west east west of total Bitternut hickory 29 6 7 15 66 122 41% Shagbark hickory 16 - - 51 112 178 59% Total 45 6 7 66 178 301 100% Percent of total 15% 2% 2% 22% 59% 100% Source: USDA Forest Service, Forest Inventory and Analysis 2018 For a table on Volume by County go to: http://dnr.wi.gov/topic/ForestBusinesses/documents/tables/VolumeCountySpecies.pdf “What kind of sites does hickory grow on?” Habitat type and site index distribution About two-thirds of both bitternut and shagbark hickory growing stock volume is found on dry- mesic to mesic and mesic habitat types (chart below). Shagbark hickory is a little more likely to be found on drier sites, whereas bitternut hickory is more often found on wetter sites. Bitternut hickory 0% Shagbark hickory 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% Very Dry to Dry 11% 15% Dry 30% 31% 18% Dry to Dry-mesic Dry-mesic 24% Dry-mesic to Mesic Mesic 2% 34% 3% 27% Mesic to Wet-mesic 5% 0% Wet-Mesic to wet Undefined Percent distribution of growing stock volume by habitat type group1 (USDA Forest Inventory & Analysis data). Hickory percent of volume by site index 40% 35% Bitternut hickory growing stock volume is found on slightly richer 30% sites (chart on left). Over 86% of bitternut hickory volume is 25% located on sites with a site index greater than 60. Only 62% of 20% All Species shagbark hickory volume is on sites with a site index greater than 15% Bitternut hickory 60. 10% Shagbark hickory 5% 0% The average site index by volume for bitternut hickory is 74 much <41 41 - 50 51 - 60 61 - 70 71 - 80 81 - 90 90+ higher than the average for all species, 66. The average for Site Index Class shagbark hickory is 65. Percent distribution of growing stock volume by site index class (USDA Forest Inventory & Analysis data). 1For more information on habitat types see Schmidt, Thomas L. 1997. Wisconsin forest statistics, 1996. Resource Bulletin NC-183. St. Paul, MN: U.S. Dept. of Agriculture, Forest Service, North Central “How fast is hickory growing?” Average annual net growth: trends and ratio of growth to volume Average annual net growth of hickory The average annual net growth of hickory is about 8.0 million cubic feet per year, representing 1.4% of statewide volume growth (chart on right). Volume growth has increased 10 slightly since 1983. 9 8 7 Almost all volume growth for hickory occurs in southern 3 6 Wisconsin (Table 2), but the highest growth to volume ratio 5 is currently in northwest Wisconsin. 4 Million ft 3 2 1 0 Table 2. Average annual net growth (million ft3/year) of growing stock and the 1983 1996 2011 2018 ratio of growth to volume by region of the state. Average annual net growth (million cubic feet). Percent of Ratio of growth Source: USDA Forest Inventory & Analysis data Region Net growth Total to volume Northeast -0.1 - - Northwest 0.3 3% 4.1% The ratio of growth to volume for hickory is 2.7%, almost Central 1.3 16% 2.8% equal to the statewide average of 2.6% for all species. Southwest 4.8 60% 2.7% Southeast 1.8 22% 2.7% Statewide 8.0 100% 2.7% Source: USDA Forest Inventory and Analysis 2018 For a table of Average annual growth, mortality and removals by region go to: http://dnr.wi.gov/topic/ForestBusinesses/documents/tables/GrowthMortalityRemovals.pdf “How healthy is hickory in Wisconsin?” Average annual mortality: trends and ratio of mortality to volume Average annual mortality of hickory The average annual mortality of hickory, about 2.1 million cubic 6 feet per year from 2012 to 2018, has increased four-fold since 5 1983 (chart on right). The percent of statewide mortality, 0.9%, 4 is much less than the percent of total volume in the state, 1.4%. 3 3 he ratio of mortality to volume is 0.7% for hickory species (Table T Million ft 3). This rate is much lower than the statewide average of 1.1% 2 for all species. However, the difference between the mortality 1 to volume ratio for bitternut hickory (1.4%) and shagbark hickory (0.2%) is very large. 0 1983 1996 2011 2018 Average annual mortality (million cubic feet) by inventory year. Error bars represent the 67% confidence interval. Source: USDA Forest Inventory & Analysis data Table 3. Mortality, volume and the ratio of mortality to volume. Average annual Volume of growing Mortality Species mortality (ft3) stock (ft3) / volume Bitternut hickory 1,709,648 122,083,638 1.4% Shagbark hickory 356,622 178,513,902 0.2% Total hickory 2,066,270 300,597,540 0.7% Source: USDA Forest Inventory & Analysis data For a table of Average annual growth, mortality and removals by region go to: http://dnr.wi.gov/topic/ForestBusinesses/documents/tables/GrowthMortalityRemovals.pdf “Does hickory have any major disease or pest issues?” Thousand Canker Disease: biology, symptoms and impact Since 2005, dieback and mortality of bitternut and shagbark hickory have been reported in Wisconsin. Although affecting both species, mortality appears to be more prevalent for bitternut hickory (Figure on right). Mortality and dieback peaked in Wisconsin in 2011, possibly related to drought in 2003-2009. Since 2011, mortality has decreased for both species. Symptoms progress rapidly from thinning crowns to branch mortality to complete tree mortality. Epicormic branches often sprout only to die later, and sunken cankers can often be found on these trees. Tree mortality occurs two or three Left: Annual mortality rates by species and inventory year. Right. Percentage of hickory years after an initial appearance of symptoms. trees with crown dieback over 5% by inventory year.